<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">I know this because my parents spent a combined 61 years working for public schools in the State of Mississippi, and moved to Starkville to teach in 1988. They have both decided to retire this year, but for their own personal reasons, not the state of the district.</span><div style="min-width: 0px; max-width: 99%; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><br style="min-width: 0px; "></div><div style="min-width: 0px; max-width: 99%; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">The problem is a combination of several things. For one, and I don't mind opening up a can of worms, there are a lot of ignorant, selfish, irresponsible parents putting their kids through school right now. This is national epidemic I'm sure, but it's definitely made it hard for teachers to discipline kids without legal (and even physical) threats from parents and kids who just don't get it and probably don't care. There have also been a few teachers who have made bad decisions, and it's made the district suffer as a whole.</div><div style="min-width: 0px; max-width: 99%; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><br style="min-width: 0px; "></div><div style="min-width: 0px; max-width: 99%; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, there's a lack of initiative, creativity, and backbone in the school board right now. The fear of facing repercussions for political, financial, and alleged racial reasons have set the schools back. Administrators have their hands tied in a lot of situations, and it's unfortunate that no one is stepping up to the plate and demanding change.</div><div style="min-width: 0px; max-width: 99%; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><br style="min-width: 0px; "></div><div style="min-width: 0px; max-width: 99%; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">The saddest thing is, there are a lot of good teachers in the public schools. At least there were. In terms of education in the Golden Triangle, Starkville High and Columbus High are as good as it gets. Unfortunately, I fear that these school districts are going down a path where teachers will have less and less control. Education standards are fading, standardized tests are a joke, and enrichment funding simply isn't there anymore.</div><div style="min-width: 0px; max-width: 99%; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><br style="min-width: 0px; "></div><div style="min-width: 0px; max-width: 99%; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">Today's kid is not the same. Today's world is not the same. Kids socialize in a completely different capacity. They are desensitized in many ways that surprise and intimidate teachers. It's just something the education professors in colleges are going to have to catch on to so they can help new teachers adjust.</div><div style="min-width: 0px; max-width: 99%; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><br style="min-width: 0px; "></div><div style="min-width: 0px; max-width: 99%; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; ">I'm hoping that a rise in the Starkville population will eventually create a good crop of parents who demand better for their kids in the public schools, but right now, it simply isn't there. Until someone comes in with a bunch of money or gets enough community-wide support to change the way these kids are being handled and instructed at the very early grade levels, the problem will continue to worsen. There just isn't enough incentive for underprivileged and/or ignorant parents to pay attention to their kids.<div style="min-width: 0px; max-width: 99%; "><br style="min-width: 0px; "></div><div style="min-width: 0px; max-width: 99%; ">Anyways, I went to the public schools all the way through. In terms of the shift people have referenced in this thread, my graduating class was one of the last to come through that didn't have major problems. I loved my years going through the Starkville School District, and hopefully one day I can do something to help make it better. But that's neither here nor there.</div><div style="min-width: 0px; max-width: 99%; "><div style="min-width: 0px; max-width: 99%; "><br style="min-width: 0px; "></div><div style="min-width: 0px; max-width: 99%; ">Rant over.</div><div style="min-width: 0px; max-width: 99%; "><br style="min-width: 0px; "></div><div style="min-width: 0px; max-width: 99%; ">To answer your original question, if you've had your fill of bars, culture, concerts, restaurants, and wild times in general, moving back to Starkville isn't such a bad idea. But I'm decades away from making that move myself.</div></div></div>
